Out of all the food trends to emerge and disappear, the trend of avocado has persevered for years now. Termed as a ‘superfood’ for its nutritional package, avocado has a creamy texture with a mild nutty flavour. Over the years, the world has been using avocado for culinary purposes in numerous ways. From prettily laying slices of avocado on a toast, blending it to make a green smoothie and stuffing the avocados with nuts, seeds, veggies and eggs- the ways to use avocado for food are nearly endless today. However, one of the classic dishes that are as old as avocado itself is guacamole. Yes, we do understand that the dish looks quite fancy and modern but it is truly that old.
Legend has it that when the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), they saw that the local Aztecs were eating a fruit called 'ahuacatl' in a sauce called 'ahuacamolli'. After knowing that the fruit was named after something that weird (click here to know what the word ‘ahuacatl’ means), the Spanish changed the names to avocado and guacamole respectively. Back then, guacamole was made with just one ingredient-avocado and the Spanish were all about the deliciousness of avocados. I mean, can we even blame them?
However, the important question is- is the new guacamole that we love so dearly today a gift of the Spanish or a result of experimental mixing? It is believed that the Aztecs were already adding native American products to guacamole like tomatoes and chile. The establishment of the Columbian Exchange resulted in the blossoming of trade relationships between America, Africa and Europe. As evident as it is, these trade relationships introduced new products in the market which reformed the culinary heritages. This led to the addition of ingredients like garlic, onions, lime and cilantro in the all-time favourite guacamole.
Now that you know the history of guacamole, you know who to thank the next time you relish a bowl of it. Also, do not forget to try the recipes embedded here at home.
